12 Chapter 11 Withered Seed_1

Even though the Moon Erosion Fruit-era First Grade Artifact, Silver Rift Blade fragment needed to be collected and assembled, Lu Xuan was still quite satisfied.

It's important to understand that in the Cultivation World, among resources of the same grade, elixir recipes and cultivation techniques are the most valuable, followed by formations, magic artifacts, elixirs, and charms, and finally various cultivation materials like spirit grass, spirit ores, and demon beast's flesh and blood.

Considering the Moon Erosion Tree is merely an ungraded spirit plant; even a mere remnant of a magical artifact can be counted as an unexpected joy.

He gazed at the three silver white thin slices flitting around him, looking forward to the moment he would complete the assembly of the Silver Rift Blade.

One day, a sound echoed in the courtyard, undisturbed by any cultivators.

From outside the courtyard came a somewhat anxious, but warm voice.

"Brother Lu, are you at home?"

Lu Xuan immediately recognized the owner of the voice. It was Zhang Hong's wife.

He hadn't seen her more than a few times and had only met her when visiting Zhang Hong's family. His impression was that she was a gently beautiful woman named Xu Wan who was at the Qi Cultivation Second Layer.

Lu Xuan opened the courtyard door to see a rather haggard-looking Xu Wan.

"Sister-in-law, is something the matter? Please come in."

"No, Brother Lu, the matter does involve troubling you."

Upon seeing Lu Xuan emerge, Xu Wan's breath eased significantly.

"Old Zhang at home was saying earlier that your spirit field had been plagued by the shadow of a Black Bud Worm Larva, and spent quite a few spirit stones to have someone handle it."

"Over the past period, many loose cultivators in the North District have suffered from pests. Despite my constant vigilance, I couldn't prevent my home spirit field's spiritual plants from being infested by the Black Bud Worm Larva. By the time it was found, it was already a serious issue."

"I was wondering if you could tell me about any loose cultivators in the vicinity that can deal with Black Bud Worm Larvae, and how much I ought to pay as reward?"

After a moment of consideration, Lu Xuan shared the information he had accumulated with Xu Wan.

"I know of three people. Lingyun Fairy, who is skilled with flying needle artifacts, Li Xu who can transform Sword Qi into silk, and Qin Ming, who is incredibly proficient in ice techniques. Qin Ming asks for the least compensation, seven spirit stones, but there might be some room to haggle."

"Seven spirit stones..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Wan's eyes flashed with doubt, and she started biting her lip. Her hands, which were resting on her stomach, began to rub unnaturally.

Her husband, Zhang Hong, had used most of their savings preparing to be more ready. Their child's expenses were very high. If she were to spend seven spirit stones to solve the bug problem, they would have trouble affording food afterward.

"Thank you, Brother Lu."

She eventually decided to hire someone to exterminate the Black Bud Worm Larvae. She thanked Lu Xuan, and as her expression returned to normal, she turned to leave.

"Wait."

Lu Xuan stopped Xu Wan. When she had turned around again, he spoke with certainty.

"Sister-in-law, I've made rapid progress in a certain technique recently, and I'm seventy or eighty percent certain I can take care of the Black Bud Worm Larvae. Why don't I take a look first?"

"Then, thank you very much, Brother Lu."

Upon hearing Lu Xuan's words, Xu Wan's face flickered with surprise. She hadn't thought about asking Lu Xuan for help without compensation, but hiring a Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer cultivator instead of a Second Layer one would undoubtedly be more costly.

If Lu Xuan could resolve the problem, any small amount saved would help.

Lu Xuan closed the courtyard door and quietly followed Xu Wan.

He had considered the matter over when he asked Zhang Hong's wife if she needed help.

After the appearance of the white light group in the spirit field, the first thing he had to avoid was getting himself into too much danger.

The Zhang Family was just a short distance away, and what he was up against were merely Black Bud Worm Larvae, which weren't too deadly.

The adult Black Bud Worm had been annihilated in one blow under the Golden Sword Technique previously. Now, with his deeper cultivation skills, a more profound understanding of the sword technique, the fragments of the Silver Rift Blade, and several charms in hand, he was fairly confident he could handle the Black Bud Worm Larvae.

So thought Lu Xuan prudently.

Beyond those reasons, there was a primary one.

From his previous body's memories, he knew that his smooth transitioning into a Spirit Plant Master had been largely due to Zhang Hong's help. When he first rented the tiny spirit field, Zhang Hong had loaned him a few spirit stones.

Since he had taken over this body, he had received some guidance from Zhang Hong about cultivating spiritual plants. Plus, Zhang Xiu Yuan, their child, was quite endearing. This seemed like a good opportunity to pay a visit.

The two residences were not very far apart, and soon Lu Xuan was following Xu Wan into her home.

Zhang Xiu Yuan, guarding the spirit field, revealed a joyous look upon seeing Lu Xuan. Then, as if he had thought of something, he puckered up his lips and looked away.

"Zhang Xiu Yuan!"

Xu Wan sternly called out.

"Hey, Uncle Lu." The child spoke reluctantly, somewhat afraid of his mother.

"Alright."

Lu Xuan didn't mind and made his way over to the Zhang family's Spirit Field.

The Spirit Field in the courtyard was almost twice the size of his own, with a wider variety of Spirit Plants being cultivated. In addition to Spirit Firefly grass, there were three other common types of Spirit Plants.

He quickly found the infected Spirit Firefly grass.

Turning it over, he could see tiny black threads clinging tightly to the leaves, as if they were fused together.

Lu Xuan's gaze sharpened, fixated on the black threads.

Quickly, he closed his eyes, invoking the essence of the Golden Sword Technique. His internal Spiritual Power began to circulate, compressing and refining within his acupoints.

In a flash, a strand of golden Sword Qi, as thin as hair, was suddenly produced and slid along the leaf, splitting the black thread in two.

After cutting one black bud worm larvae, without losing momentum, the golden thread of Sword Qi swept in a graceful arc and bisected another black thread.

So it went, each black thread was divided into sections, dropping to the ground. After bouncing twice, they went still.

"Wow! Uncle Lu, you're so amazing!"

Zhang Xiu Yuan, who had squat beside Lu Xuan at some unknown point, exclaimed loudly.

Lu Xuan arose, appearing nonchalant in the face of Zhang Xiu Yuan's adoration.

"Just a few black bud worm larvae, they're not worth mentioning."

"Brother Lu, thank you for your hard work. Please come in for a warm cup of tea."

Seeing the black bud worm issue that had been troubling her so easily resolved by Lu Xuan brought a look of relief to Xu Wan's face. She invited Lu Xuan into the house.

After sending Zhang Xiu Yuan to review his cultivation knowledge, Xu Wan fetched five Spirit Stones from the inner room.

"Brother Lu, thank you so much this time. Please accept these few Spirit Stones."

"Sister-in-law, I can't possibly accept this. Brother Zhang has helped me so much in the past, how could I take your Spirit Stones?"

Lu Xuan hurriedly waved his hand in refusal.

He was indebted to Zhang Hong, and naturally, he would not take the Spirit Stones as he knew the hardship Xu Wan faced, a widow raising Zhang Xiu Yuan alone.

"No, you've helped me so much, you must accept! If I had sought help elsewhere, it would have cost even more. Giving you just five Spirit Stones already feels like I've gotten the better deal."

Xu Wan appeared frail, but she had a strong personality insistent that Lu Xuan accept the Spirit Stones.

Unable to refuse further, an idea popped into Lu Xuan's mind.

"How about this, Sister-in-law, I still won't take the Spirit Stones, you keep them for yourself. But, I won't go unrewarded. If there are any unknown spiritual seeds you've gathered from the wild, just give me one."

He proposed a compromise. Zhang Hong often went out to the wilderness, he might have come across some unknown spiritual seeds.

"An unknown spiritual seed? I do have one, but I'm unsure what kind it is and it's nearing the end of its vitality."

Xu Wan pondered for a moment before answering.

She went to the inner room, returning quickly with a withered seed.

The seed looked like a small sword, its surface was gray-black, indicating it had been stored for a pretty long time.

"Brother Zhang had obtained two seeds a long time ago. He asked some loose cultivators, but nobody knew what kind they were."

"He tried to plant one, but it didn't even sprout so he gave up."

"As for the remaining seed, he thought about trading it but couldn't fetch anything worthwhile. So it stayed at home. Over time, a large portion of its life force has been lost."

"Well then, I won't stand on ceremony, and will take this seed."

Lu Xuan inspected the sword-shaped, withered seed from all angles, then laughed.

After receiving the withered spiritual seed, he didn't stay too long. With Xu Wan's gratitude and Zhang Xiu Yuan's reluctance, he left the Zhang Family.